Karoo National Park

Karoo National Park sits just off the N1 about 6 km south of Beaufort West, roughly halfway between Cape Town (about 500 km) and Johannesburg (about 1000 km). Most people stop for one night on the long drive and then wish they had booked two. The park covers around 750 square kilometres of the Great Karoo, climbing from plains at about 850 m onto the Nuweveld escarpment above 1300 m. It is a landscape park first, with wide views and quiet, and a surprising amount of game.

Getting there

The gate is on the N1, 6 km south of Beaufort West, and a tarred road runs from there to the main rest camp. There is no fuel inside the park; Beaufort West has filling stations about 10 km from the camp, so top up before you turn in.

When to go

Spring (September to mid November) and autumn are the comfortable seasons. Summer days from October to March can reach 40 degrees, which makes the midday hours a write-off. Winter (June and July) brings clear days but nights well below freezing, and snow sometimes shows on the escarpment. Rainfall averages only about 200 mm a year, so do not expect green.

What to do

The two main game-viewing routes need no 4x4. The Lammertjiesleegte loop is a 13 km drive across the plains below the camp, good for springbok, gemsbok, black wildebeest and ostrich. The Klipspringer Pass is the park’s signature: a 49 km circular route that climbs the escarpment to the Rooivalle viewpoint, with kudu and klipspringer on the slopes. Regulars recommend combining the Potlekkertjie loop, the Klipspringer Pass and the Doornhoek picnic site at the western end into one unhurried morning. The Nuweveld 4x4 eco-trail (about 90 km) and the shorter Afsaal trail (13 km) open up the middle section for high-clearance vehicles.

Walking is restricted because lions were reintroduced in 2010. The 400 m Fossil Trail at the rest camp is paved, wheelchair-friendly and displays real fossils from the Karoo basin. The Bossie Trail (800 m) and the 11 km Fonteintjieskloof trail are the other marked walks. Guided night drives leave from the camp.

Other animals to look for: Cape mountain zebra, red hartebeest, eland, black rhino, bat-eared fox and black-backed jackal. The park has five tortoise species, said to be the most of any park in the world, and about 20 pairs of Verreaux’s eagles nest on the cliffs.

Good to know

• Stay in your vehicle outside the camp. This is lion country now, even if you never see one.
• Cellphone signal is limited to the main camp and campsite. The remote cottages have none.
• The rest camp has a shop, a licensed restaurant (breakfast 07:00 to 10:00, dinner 18:00 to 21:00), a swimming pool and a bird hide on the dam.
• Gravel roads are mostly fine for a normal car but corrugated in places.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Roxanne Reid, Africa Addict, Beaufort West tourism, African Sky, Tripadvisor reviews.